A closer look at Alex Stalock’s night in 3-2 win — and a chance to hear “Jaws” without the chomp

SAN JOSE – One thing we NHL beat guys have to like about the new CBA is that it mandates four days off for the players each month.

That translates to days off for us – or at least a light workday that maybe gives us time to focus on long-term stories or booking hotel rooms. Pro-rated, those four days translate to three in training camp and this is the first of those for the Sharks.

The Sharks eked out a 3-2 victory in Vancouver to open the exhibition season last night and the Merc had freelancer Kevin Woodley on the scene. His account that appeared in the paper is at http://www.mercurynews.com/sharks/ci_24110278/san-jose-sharks-beat-vancouver-canucks-3-2

But Kevin, the managing editor of InGoal magazine as well as the writer covering the Canucks for nhl.com, also took a closer look at Alex Stalock’s night. Here’s what he passes along:

It was hardly an ideal way for start the season for San Jose Sharks backup hopeful Alex Stalock.

After making a couple good reaction saves off Ryan Kesler early – one blocker off the rush, and a glove snare on a labeled power play shot from the high slot – Stalock sat stagnant for long stretches, beaten by rookie Brendan Gaunce on a rebound he failed to steer into the corner later in the first period before another early burst in the second period was followed by more inactivity while his team buzzed Eddie Lack at the other end.

Stalock was beaten again on a sharp angle – but well placed – shot by another rookie, Hunter Shinkaruk, early in the third period to tie the game, but wound up a winner after Tommy Wingels converted the Sharks’s seventh power play with 3:53 left. Stalock finished with 14 saves and lots of time to think.

All that standing around made it hard to establish much of a rhythm in his first shot at winning the battle with Harri Sateri to back up Vezina Trophy finalist Antti Niemi this season.

“It’s one of those games where the other guy is seeing rubber non-stop, shot after shot, and they get nothing for a while and then, boom, they come down and get one,” Stalock said. “You see the other end, the guys is getting work non stop, doesn’t have to think, just react, make saves and you are sitting there and that’s when you get in trouble and your mind starts wandering.”

Stalock tried to keep his from doing so by playing the puck whenever he had the chance, something coach Todd McLellan praised him for after the game.

“He was good at moving the puck s he helped our young d-men out,” McLellan said.
Stalock wanted to review the tape on both goals. An aggressively positioned goalie with the foot speed to recover that extra distance, he was well outside his crease when a Dale Weisse rush shot through a partial screen from the top of the right faceoff circle seemed to handcuff him a little, leaving the rebound in a dangerous spot and Stalock diving back head first to try and take the empty net away from Gaunce on the backdoor.

“He just threw a grenade at the net and that’s what they’re told to do,” Stalock said.
The second goal, scored from below the left faceoff circle and just above the goal line raised a few more eyebrows, but McLellan joined the Canucks in praising Shinkaruk, a first round pick this summer, for picking the top corner with a perfect shot.

“Hell of a shot,” said McLellan, who also praised Stalock for his play early in the first two periods, when the Canucks had two power plays. “You might say he’d like that back, but he put it in a tiny, tiny hole.”

Again, Stalock wanted time to look at it again on tape.

“We’ll take a look at that second one, but the guy made a heck of a shot,” he said.

****Kevin, by the way, also covers the Canucks for nhl.com. He reached two milestones at Monday night’s game – his 40th birthday and the 5,000th follower for @KevinisInGoal. We’ll give Sharks fans a little credit for the latter and hope they stick with him for insights into the minders of the net.

****The other two days off during training camp are the next two Sundays, Sept. 22 and 29. Guessing NHL players and coaches welcome the opportunity to watch a few NFL games, too.

****While Kevin Woodley was working, I set the DVR and headed to San Francisco to be in the presence of greatness in another field. The San Francisco Symphony had Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams at Davies Hall for a program on film scores and I lucked out with two eighth row aisle seats at the last minute.

I mention this here primarily because Williams – think “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” and just about every other film soundtrack going through your head – used his familiar-to-Sharks-fans theme from “Jaws” to introduce Spielberg. I looked around the symphony hall at the time and if anyone was doing the chomp, it eluded me.

Anyway, totally worth the rush-hour drive north for a great night of film scores even if it meant staying up till almost 2 a.m. afterward watching the Sharks beat Vancouver in a game that doesn’t count in the standings.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.